Chef Salvatore Morello arrives at the helm of the renowned Parma restaurant: this is our experience
Just as in life, turning the page and taking a different path in the kitchen is always a difficult and courageous
choice. After the fruitful experience with the imaginative and iconic chef Terry Giacomello, the Poli family,
in the catering sector for over fifty years, opted for a decisive change in the route of taste; at the command
fires of Inkiostro, a restaurant on the outskirts of Parma, there is now chef Salvatore Morello.Class 1984,
originally from Catanzaro, chef Morello, despite his young age, can already boast a decidedly rich
curriculum full of important experiences outside the borders national: in Teutonic land, in the starry
kitchens of Essenza in Berlin, DaVinci in Koblenz and in France, at the court of two sacred monsters such as
Alan Ducasse and Paul Bocuse.
Experiences that have enriched Morello’s cultural baggage and have
profoundly influenced his culinary philosophy, made up of rigor, refinement and obviously contaminations.
The skills and ideas of the Calabrian chef are excellently supported by an attentive, scrupulous staff who, as
far as pairing is concerned, is dynamic, innovative and without the slightest fear of daring. The refinement
and elegant sobriety, inherent in the DNA of the restaurant, serve as a backdrop to this perfect
combination of dining room / kitchen; a gem of rare beauty that even on the lower floor hides gems
capable of leaving you speechless, such as the cellar, a veritable oenological museum embellished with over
a thousand labels. A crackling menu proposed by chef Morello, in which the quality of the raw material
plays a fundamental role; this is the case of the Gillardeau oyster, whose savory note finds a perfect match
in a fresh and pungent Calamansi granita.
In addition to the oyster, there are many “welcome” from the
chef, all characterized by pleasant flavors and decidedly in the hearts of the diners, such as a tasty cone
with veal tartare, yolk, avocado and caviar, a preparation that masterfully opens the stomach for
subsequent courses . To accompany this selection of welcome goodies a white Torrontes San Pedro De
Yacochuya 2019 coming directly from Patagonia. French influences and a surgical attention to cooking are
integral parts of Morello’s cuisine; a crystalline example can be found in the pigeon, rigorously cooked in
carcass, corn juice, celeriac cooked in bread crust, quinoa risotto with the thigh, burnt onion, glasswort. The
enveloping sweetness of the corn sauce divinely completes a tender and juicy pigeon. In the celeriac the
green and refreshing note, clearly Central European. As already pointed out, knowledge and creativity are
almost essential characteristics for Inkiostro, so with Scottish salmon cooked confit in oil flavored with
seaweed and grape seeds, sea gel, green curry puree, cauliflower in scapece, barriers and false dogmas of
pairing collapse : the combination chosen is in fact the Oolong Tie Guan Yin Tea, with a gentle and distinctly
floral taste. The fresh pasta buttons stuffed with beef cheek, black cabbage, roast stock, Jerusalem
artichoke mousse and truffle represent the shining example of how fine dining can be enjoyable and
extremely satisfying both for the mind and for the stomach. Round, decisive flavors, with a vein of flavor
that tickles the taste buds and, as a camera, captures a real ecstasy of taste. To toast this masterpiece we
fly to the Far East with a Sake Junmai Uroko Yamahai.
The courses follow one another at a fast pace, until
the arrival of Elderberry, a dessert with a strong fruity traction, consisting of cassis mousse, orange sorbet,
spiced blood orange juice, elderflower namelaka. The palate is lulled by delicate citrus hints that run
gracefully through the streets of taste. To decode and dampen this papillary ecstasy, a sip of Moonshine
Blackberry Ole Smoky, iconic and historic whiskey from the States. year 2022.
